Article dispenser with reciprocating ejector



w. L. BILGER April 30, 1963 ARTICLE DISPENSER WITH RECIPROCATING EJECTORFiled Jan. 4, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 1/11! I III/III IV 1111! I IINVENTOR.

I April 30, 1963 w. QBILGER ARTICLE DISPENSER WITH RECIPROCATING EJECTORFiled Jan. 4, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 1953 w. L. BILGER 3,087,592

ARTICLE DISPENSER WITH RECIPROCATING EJECTOR Filed Jan. 4, 1960 3Sheets-Sheet 3 INV EN TOR. Ma czv bzgw BY r? ce 3,087,592 ARTICLEDISPENSERWITH RECIPROCATING I EJECTOR Walter L. Bilger, 719 Grant St.,Downers Grove, Ill. Filed Jan. 4, 1960, Ser. N0. 117 3 Clain'is- (Cl.194-85) My inventionrela-tes to vending equipment and includes among itsobjects and advantages a vending unit embodying a radical simplificationand reduction in cost and a unit constructed substantially entirely ofplastic, with the parts so arranged that they can be produced bystandardized mass-production plastic procedures, without letting thenecessary taper in some of the parts impair the operat'ion of thefinished product.

It is also convenient to have such a large portion of the unit oftransparent plastic that the operation of the mechanism can be observedby the user, as well as the presence or absence of merchandise in themagazine. This eliminates the need of any special indicator mechanism toshow when the magazine is empty.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a single unit according to'theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective indicating three units assembled in a singlestructure;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section on line 33 of FIG- URE 1 FIGURE 4 is asection-on line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5' is a detailon line 55 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 isa fragmentary section as on line 33, indicating the partsinan intermediate position;

. FIGURE 7 is a section on the same plane as FIGURE 6, indicating theparts in final, or discharge, position;

FIGURE 8 is a rear view ofthe dispenser mechanism as-a whole;

FIGURE 9 is a partial view of the housing, seen from the rear, with thecontents removed; and

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary view of the parts in FIG- URE '8, with theframe illustrated and most of the moving parts removed.

Overall Structure In the embodiment selected to illustrate theinvention, each unit comprises three unitary sub-assemblies; the housing10, the dispenser unit 12, and the rear closure 14.

Thehousing comprises a floor 16, a vertical side wall 18 on the sidewherethe operating linkage is arranged, and a plain opposite side wall20. The upper front panel 22 is integrally-united along side itsvertical side edges with front edges of the side walls 18 and 20' andall three are integrally united with the edges of a rectangular top 24.The lower edge of the front panel 22 is integral with a forwardlyextending shelf 26, which is integral with a downwardly extending apron28.

Adjacent to the side wall 18, the shelf 26 and apron 28 are terminatedat the opposite side of a smaller concave hoiising portion 30 adapted tohouse segmentalportions of the main parts of the movable dispensingmechanism, and slotted at 32 to receive a coin and at 34 to permitpassage and to and fro movement for-a manual operating lever 26 having aterminal head 38'for the convenience of the user. 7

The dispenser unit 12 may beinserted in the housing and easily removedtherefrom as a unit for inspection or repair. It comprises a rigidstationary frame having an upper front panel 40 anda lower front panel42 separated by an-exit slot at 44. To bridge this gap and complete anintegral unitary structure, I provide triangular brackets 46 (see FIG.3) on the upper portion of the lower panel 42, and the horizontal shelf48 is supported States atent on these brackets, and along its frontedgeon the panel 42. From the shelf 48, side walls 50 and 52 risevertically, with their front edges integrally united with the upperfront panel 40. The side wall 50 constitutes the right wall of themerchandise chamber 51, when viewed from the rear, but the side wall 52has a companion side wall 54 spaced away from it to house certainmovable members of the ejector mechanism. The inner wall 54, togetherwith the opposite wall 50 and the front wall 40, completes three of thevertical walls of the merchandise chamber 51. The walls 40 and 54 havetheir lower edges spaced above the shelf 48.-

The housing side walls, 18 and 20', are each provided with an inwardlyextending ledge cleat 56, and each cleat has a rear end hook at 58 (seeFIGURE 4). 'It will be apparent that the supporting frame for thedispensing mechanism can be inserted from the rear of the housing; Theupper edge of the front panel, 40, terminates below the roof, 24, toleave a clearance space at 60 (see FIG- URE 3), just great enough to letthe lower edge of the panel 42 slide into the position of FIGURE 3 abovea pair of corner rails, 62, and drop down onto the floor 1'6, in frontof the corner rails. This lets the ends of the shelf 48, come to rest onthe cleats 56, restrained from backward movement by the hooks 58, unlessan operator lifts the entire assembly to raise the lower edge of thepanel 42, above the level of the tracks 62, and withdraw the entiredispensing mechanism and its frame.

The fourth, and rear, wall of the merchandise compartment 51 is avertical panel 64, constituting an integral rigid part of the rearclosure 14. The panel 64 terminates above the top of the shelf 48, witha clearance defining an entry way to permit the ejector mechanism tocome in. This wall is then continued rearwardly and upwardly at 66, anddownwardly at 63 with an inset, or shoulder, at for convenientengagement with the thumb or finger of an operator for removing the rearclosure. It is then continued vertically downward at 72 and its loweredge slides in over a plastic button 74, molded in the floor 16.

It is convenient and efiective to design the parts so that the operatorcan set the upper edge of the panel 64 just inside a retaining lug 76,having a square end facing forward, and the distance from the lug 76 tothe button 74 is a small fraction less than the undistorted length ofthe rear closure so that the operator distorts the housing and the rearclosure, and especially that portion of the rear closure extending downfrom the rear edge of the portion "66, enough to let the closure snapinto position. Similarly, when it is desired to remove the closure, agentle pull on the same parts will distort them, and the lower edge ofthe bottom panel 72 will snap out over the button 74. It will beapparent that the stationary structure described provides a magazine, orstorage space, having the shape of a rectangular parallelepipedon,adapted to hold a stack of articles, such as the piece of gum indicat'edat 77 in FIGURE 4, resting on the shelf 48, with the rear edge of thepiece registering with the slot below the rear wall 64 and the frontedge of the piece registering with the slot 44 in front, so that thepiece may be pushed forward and fall out of its position and into thespace behind the apron 28, where it will fall downwardly and rearwardlyand come to rest on the floor 16 in front of the panel 42. A cleat 17guards against having the article fall olf the floor 16 prematurely.

The ejector proper, includes a reciprocating plate 78 normally lyingjust behind the bottom article in the magazine, as indicated in FIGURES3 and 4. There is also a front retainer arm '80. This is rigid with andmoves in unison with the plate 78, so far as contact with the articlesis concerned. The plate is guided in rotation about the axis of a pivot81, located remote from the plate and near the top of the magazine. Thismeans that its path to and fro is one of such slight curvature that thedeviation from a straight path does not interfere with effective actionon the bottom article. Reference to FIGURE 3 will make it apparent thatan article lying between the plate 78 and the guide 80 will travelforward when those parts move to the dotted line position indicated inthe same figure until it falls by gravity in the direction of the arrow82, and comes to rest on the floor 16, between the partition 42 .and thecleat 17.

The connection from the plate 78 to the pivot 81 is through a rear beam84, integral with a dog-leg arm 86, which extends upon between thestationary walls 52 and 54 and is in contact with them over asubstantial area, so that its movement is guided by them. The lowertwothirds of the arm 86 is made narrower to leave a clearance at 88,which clearance receives an arm 90 (see FIGS. 7 and 8) pivoted about themain pivot 92. The arm 90 carries a pin 93 lying in a slot 94 in the arm86. It will be apparent that the rotation of arm 90 around pivot 92 willcause the pin 93 to force the long arm 86 to the forward positionindicated in the dash and dot lines in FIGURE 3. The position of rest isalso indicated in ordinary dotted lines in the same figure and in fulllines at the bottom of the arm, where it can be seen.

For convenience in both manufacture and assembly, the plate 78 isremovable from the beam 84. The plate 78 has an integral flange 96extending downward and having contact with front of the beam 84. It alsohas a central rearward projection 98 lying over the top of the beam 84,but this projection occupies only a little more than the central half ofthe transverse extent of the plate. Just beyond either end of theextension 98 the flange 96 is provided with end hooks each comprising abottom reach 100, underlying the beam 84, and a rear upwardly extendingreach 102 engaging the rear of the beam 84. These parts are made withenough clearance to permit the plate to slide on to the exposed rightend of the beam 84 into assembled relationship.

To provide a little additional resilience and improve the tolerances inmanufacture, the plate 78 includes end wings 164. Each end wing isintegrally united near its rear end with the flange 96 and lies in thesame plane with the body of the plate 78 and is connected to the mainbody at its front end by a narrow cross piece 106.

On the upper face of each wing 104 I provide a narrow elevated strip 108which constitutes a track for sliding contact with the bottom of thepile of articles so that friction is minimized as the plate slides backinto the full line position of FIGURE 3, after ejecting one of thearticles. The entire front edge of the plate slides on the horizontalshelf 48, so that the beam 84 never carries the load of the plate or thepile of articles, but merely propels the plate forward to eject anarticle, and retracts it to let the pile settle and position the nextarticle in position to be ejected.

When in assembled position, the plate is restrained from sliding off thebeam 84 by the vertical wall 50. For convenience in assembly this wallcarries a rearward extension 110 (see FIGURES 4 and The upper edge ofthe extension 110 is above the level of the shelf 48 so that, with thebeam 84 moved to the full line position of FIGURE 3, the plate can beslipped over the beam, and the looseness of the connection between them,with or without a little flexure of the plastic material of which theentire mechanism is built, permits the front edge of the plate to bepushed in over the extension 110, sliding on that extension until theend passes beyond it and drops down into the final assembled positionclearly indicated in FIGURE 5, with its front corner just inside theextension 110 to continue the guidance for the plate to the extreme rearposition of the parts.

Coin-Control A coin-controlled transmission is provided for actuatingthe arms 86 and 90 to move forward and eject an article. The arm 90 isan extension of a driven disc 112, pivoted on the main pivot 92. Thepivot 92 is supported in spaced bearing plates 91, projecting down fromshelf 48. Parallel to and spaced from the driven disc 112 is the drivingdisc 114. The actuating arm 36 is an integral extension of the disc 114.

As indicated in FIGURE 8, the discs 112 and 114 are axially spaced apartto leave a narrow clearance 116 between them adapted to receive the coinneeded to establish the mechanical connection for driving disc 112 fromdisc '114.

For this purpose the disc 114 carries a driving lug 118, which liesslightly above the entrance slot 32 for the coin, and the driven disc112 carries a driven lug positioned slightly below the entrance slot sothat an inserted coin 122, as clearly indicated in FIGURE 3, can movefreely in through the slot to the position indicated in FIGURE 3.Further inward movement is arrested by a stationary cam 124, which ispositioned to engage the coin and arrest its inward movement, with theweight of the coin resting chiefly on lug 120 and secondarily on cam124. The earn 124 is integral with shelf 48 and also forms :a thirdbearing for the main pivot 92.

As indicated in FIGURES 3 and 6, the cam 124 is cut away sharply back ofits point, engaging the coin in FIGURE 3. It will be apparent thatclockwise rotation of the driving disc 114 will move the driving lug 118down to engage the edge of the coin and push the coin and the driven lug120 and disc 112 down and in clockwise rotation, while the coin isprevented from slipping inward out from between the driving and drivenlugs by the point of the cam 124. In FIGURE 6, these parts areillustrated in mid-stroke. The coin 122 is still effective to transmitthrust between the lugs 118 and 120, but it is beginning to slipradially inward so that the angle of contact at its edges in increasing.Further rotation for about 10 more will bring the parts to the positionof FIGURE 7, where the lug 118 has come down and moved partially pastthe lug 120, but the operative connection for transmitting thrust from118 to 120 is gone because of the clearance provided for movement of thecoin to escape in the direction in the arrow 126, so that it will fallon the floor 16 behind the partition 42, where it can be collected by anoperator, who comes to remove the rear closure and the accumulated coinsand replenish the magazine. The disc 114 carries obturator lugs 111 and113 to define an inlet opening that registers with the slot 32 only inthe position of FIGURE 3.

The segmental chamber 30 receives the edges of the driving and drivendiscs 112 and 114 and includes a flange 128 having sliding contact withthe periphery of the disc 114 and an opposite flange 130 for similarengagement with the edge of the disc 112. This provides mechanicalguidance for the sliding movement of the parts and avoids imposing anymaterial load on the pivot 92 with respect to keeping the parts inalignment. The space to the left of flange 130 in FIGURE 9 remainsunoccupied and un-used.

Resilient means are provided for returning the discs 112 and 114 totheir initial positions, indicated in full lines in FIGURE 3. I haveillustrated a spring 132 of four closely wound turns, with a hook 134getting a purchase on the edge of shelf 48 and a hook 136 taking over aradial edge at 138 on the disc 114. The spring for the disc 112 has tobe strong enough to withdraw the shelf from its position under the pileof articles. I have indicated a wire spring having one end anchored at138-a (see FIGURES 6 and 7) in the front panel 40. From there the springextends down in front of the front edge of the shelf 48 to get a firstfulcrum and it is then continued in an arcuate form and anchored at 140by a bent end entering a hole in the disc 112. The force it exerts onthe disc 112 is counter-clockwise, but the disc 112 only moves throughan angle of about 20. Counterclockwise movement of disc 114 may belimited by contact of an upper edge 109 with panel 40, or by lever 36engaging the upper end of slot 34.

For most conditions of service it is desirable to have a full strokemechanism. I prefer to apply this to the disc 114 so that persons toyingwith the mechanism will be more effectively restrained. I have indicateda rack 142 in the inner periphery of an axially short extension chamber,and a conventional, triangular, trailing corner pawl '144 pivoted on thedisc 114 and gently urged to its intermediate position by a light spring146. At each end of the rack 142 there is a recess 148 into which thepoint of pawl can drop when the stroke in that direction is completed.

Because all of the parts are of plastic, the construction is exceedinglycheap. The remote location for the pivot 81 and the flexibility of allthe parts contributes to making an operating mechanism that can standthe wear and tear of service and still have an extended and useful lifewithout using any of the material at higher mechanical stresses than itcan endure.

Others may readily adapt the invention for use under various conditionsof service, by employing one or more of the novel features disclosed, orequivalents thereof. For instance, under conditions of service where itis considered advisable to protect against the use of slugs, aconventional coin rejector 150 can be mounted over the slot 32.

The configuration of the slot 44 and the ejector parts engaging thearticle can be tailored to fit a wide variety of articles, and thetransmission to the ejecting mechanism is well adapted to actuatedelivery means for liquids and powders as well as discrete articles. I

Very thin articles can be successfully dispensed with such as a floatingplate as the plate 78. When the articles are of much greater thickness,the articulation to let the plate float becomes unnecessary. But ineither case, if the ejector had to move in rectilinear movement, withrectilinear guides to control its path, the expense of manufacture wouldbe greatly increased and the freedom from occasional wedging or stickinggreatly decreased.

Any one of a wide variety of conventional locks may be used to guardagainst pilfering. With or without a lock, the additional resilience dueto the offset at 70, helps the assembled unit stay snug, and makes itvery difficult to get unauthorized access to the accumulated coins, asby prying up the lower edge of the panel 72.

It will be obvious that with certain types of articles, most of theadvantages of the invention may be retained in a construction where theoperator supplies the energy to withdraw the plate, and spring meansactuates the ejecting movement of the plate.

The coin is gradually released, and escapes under the force of theforward movement of the driving disc. The same type of drive by edgecontact is equally effective if the edge contacts tend to retain thecoin. After the driving force has terminated the coin can escape bygravity or by positive displacement in its own plane or in a directionnormal to the plane of the coin.

I have indicated the point 118 in FIGURE 3 slightly spaced from thecoin. Whenever it is desirable to retain a coin at this position, point118 may be located lower and the coin will have to be pushed under it,and will depress the receiving point 120 a little in getting intoposition.

Similarly, the adjacent ends of the obturators 111 and 113 are shown outof contact w'th the coin. If the mechanical load is at all heavy, theobturator 111 can have its proximate end enough lower to share theworking load on point 118, or to make the initial contact, withsubsequent contact with point 118 later on.

As at present advised, with respect to the apparent scope of myinvention, I desire to claim the following subject matter:

1. Dispensing equipment comprising in combination: a chamber adapted tohouse a pile of stacked articles; a plastic ejecting lever pivoted atits upper end on a horizontal axis adjacent the top of the stack; saidejecting lever extending down to the bottom of the stack; a stationaryplastic pile support at the bottom of said chamber; a slot in one sideof said chamber adjacent said support adapted to let an article leavesaid chamber; an ejector arm extending laterally from the lower end ofsaid ejecting lever to move to and fro in a generally horizontal pathwith a radius of curvature substantially as large as the height of saidstack; and coin completed and activated means for reciprocating saidlever and arm to alternately expel the bottom article and to withdrawsaid ejector arm and let the remainder of said stack move down onto saidsupport; said arm carrying a plastic ejector blade; the rear edge ofsaid blade being pivoted to said arm and guided thereby above and out ofcontact with said support; the opposite, front edge of said ejectorsliding on said support and having its lower plastic surface adjacentits front edge shaped for narrow, substantially line contact with saidsupport.

2. Equipment according to claim 1 in which the top contact surface ofsaid support has a radius of curvature greater than that of the path ofsaid ejector arm.

3. Dispensing equipment comprising in combination: a chamber adapted tohouse a pile of stacked articles; a plastc ejecting lever pivoted at itsupper end on a horizontal axis adjacent the top of the stack; saidejecting lever extending down to the bottom of the stack; a stationaryplastic pile support at the bottom of said chamber; a slot in one sideof said chamber adjacent said support adapted to let an article leavesaidchamber; an ejector arm extending laterally from the lower end ofsaid ejecting lever to move to and fro in a generally horizontal pathwith a radius of curvature substantially as large as the height of saidstack; coin completed and activated means for reciprocating said leverand arm to alternately expel the bottom article and to withdraw saidejector arm and let the remainder of said stack move down onto saidsupport; said means for reciprocating said lever and said arm comprisinga second, plastic transmission lever pivoted at its lower end on ahorizontal axis near the bottom of said chamber; said secondtransmission lever extending up beside said ejecting lever; and apin-and-slot connection between the upper end of said transmission leverand a central portion of said ejecting lever and projections on said armand said transmission lever engageable by a coin to complete andactivate said means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS695,154 Hunter Mar. 11, 1902 890,046 Green June 6, 1908 1,065,098 AngellJune 17, 1913 1,590,700 Roberts June 29 1926 1,598,148 Miller Aug. 31,1926 1,681,601 Tintera Aug. 21, 1928 2,026,636 Hope et al. Jan. 7, 19362,675,238 Leaf Apr. 13, 1954 2,859,849 Neidig Nov. 11, 1958 2,909,261Barr Oct. 20, 1959

3. DISPENSING EQUIPMENT COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: A CHAMBER ADAPTED TOHOUSE A PILE OF STACKED ARTICLES; A PLASTIC EJECTING LEVER PIVOTED ATITS UPPER END ON A HORIZONTAL AXIS ADJACENT THE TOP OF THE STACK; SAIDEJECTING LEVER EXTENDING DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE STACK; A STATIONARYPLASTIC PILE SUPPORT AT THE BOTTOM OF SAID CHAMBER; A SLOT IN ONE SIDEOF SAID CHAMBER ADJACENT SAID SUPPORT ADAPTED TO LET AN ARTICLE LEAVESAID CHAMBER; AN EJECTOR ARM EXTENDING LATERALLY FROM THE LOWER END OFSAID EJECTING LEVER TO MOVE TO AND FRO IN A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL PATHWITH A RADIUS OF CURVATURE SUBSTANTIALLY AS LARGE AS THE HEIGHT OF SAIDSTACK; COIN COMPLETED AND ACTIVATED MEANS FOR RECIPROCATING SAID LEVERAND ARM TO ALTERNATELY EXPEL THE BOTTOM ARTICLE AND TO WITHDRAW SAIDEJECTOR ARM AND LET THE REMAINDER OF SAID STACK MOVE DOWN ONTO SAIDSUPPORT; SAID MEANS FOR RECIPROCATING SAID LEVER AND SAID ARM COMPRISINGA SECOND, PLASTIC TRANSMISSION LEVER PIV-